Soft 404
A missing or empty page that wrongly returns HTTP 200, so the server says success while the content says nothing is there.
See it
What it is
A soft 404 is a URL that looks missing or useless but returns a success status, usually HTTP 200. The browser sees a valid response while the body says "not found," contains almost nothing, or redirects to an irrelevant destination. Search engines can recognize that mismatch and treat the URL like a real 404.
Reach for the diagnosis when Google Search Console reports Soft 404, when deleted routes render a branded error shell with status 200, or when every expired URL redirects to the homepage. Return 404 for missing content, 410 when you intentionally want to say it is gone, or 301 only when a close replacement truly exists.
Do not delete a useful page merely because its inventory is temporarily empty. A sold-out product with details, alternatives, or restock information still has content. The status must describe the resource, not whether it can be purchased today.
Ask AI for it
Find and fix soft 404s across this site. Compare each route's visible content with its HTTP status using curl -I and Google Search Console's Pages report. Make genuinely missing URLs return 404, intentionally removed URLs return 410, and moved URLs return a one-hop 301 to the closest equivalent page. In Next.js App Router, call notFound() for missing records instead of rendering an error component with status 200. Keep temporarily unavailable products at 200 only when they still provide useful product information.